So i am thinking about buy one of the carport type buildings for my side lot like 18'wide like 24' to 26' long. 2 garage doors and a walk in door.
What size would be idea for two parking areas and mower and other storage.
My garage is my work shop..
Idea is a small shop to store my buggy, riding mower and storage and maybe a hotrod later next year.
Garage is stuffed with tools, buggy, kids toys, storage and now wifes projects.
Im not doing a slab. Going to do thin pad with a brick liner for the wall rails to set on. And fill it in with some kind of gravel.
Well shit, I figured you'd have some replies to this. I don't have much to contribute which is why I didn't say anything at first, but my limited .02:
They're worth it if your time is valueable. They're very simple structures and not at all heavy duty (but generally adequate) and while anything like this is simple to build it doesn't mean you can throw it together in one Saturday and be done. I've been tempted by the stand-alone carports as they're light and easy to move if desired; anything I'd build would be very heavy (dictated by cheap materials like oilfield pipe) and much more of problem to drag around.
My FIL has two (just carports) and they were the perfect solution for him as he has a "retirement" project list 10 pgs long and very little of it ever gets done. The carports can be a bit odd 'cause they run the propanel roofing the "wrong" way as it needs to fold over the radius of where the wall and roof meet and you can obviously only roll/fold ribbed sheet easily in one direction. He said there was an option to get the roofing running the correct way but it was considerably more expensive. So far it's not been a problem with snow accumulation even during a couple of heavy CO winters so apparently not much of an issue (shrug).
My wife's boss has a small transportation company and he just had more a "shop" put up by one of the metal carport/building companies, I think it was EZ Shade. This is fully enclosed, upper decorative dormer type thing, etc etc. He paid for a contractor to do a slab and the company put the building up. My take: it's cheesey, overpriced and he opted for no insulation which is STUPID, esp given his location which only gets a few hours of sun during the winter. For what he paid he should have put out ~20-30% more and purchased a REAL metal building.
So, I'd say there's a breaking point: keep it cheap and basic and they might be worth it, but try to go "psuedo-shop" straight from the "carport" manufacturer and you're getting poor value for you money compared to more traditional red-iron steel buildings.
I love mine! I had a 18x21' carport with two sides but no enclosed ends built before I built my house. It was super handy to keep lumber, tools, etc. dry while building my house, and then after the house was done it has been a wonderful carport. Being only 18' wide, I back my full size truck in and pull my little daily driver car in front first so the drivers doors are both in the middle. It's nice to have a cool car in the summer and a non-icy/snowy car in the winter, plus I built hooks and I hang ladders, and the side boards off my car trailer on the walls. Maybe the best $1500 I ever spent. I even moved mine once about 100 feet in one piece, lots of blocks, two hi-lift jacks, and my car trailer. mine has seen 70mph wind, two feet of snow, and six years with no damage. I think mine was built by "coast to coast" carports? I know whoever did it was out of Salem Oregon. Came with a crew and was done in a couple hours. Mine is just gravel floored, and staked into the ground with 2-3' chunks of rebar.
For the price I think they are worth it. I built on to my house and built my 32x48 garage and was going to build my carport too. After crunching the numbers building my 30x30 carport myself would have only come out a couple hundred dollars cheaper. That was even opting for the traditional style roof with the metal facing the right way and having it certified for the local snow load.
The basic structures are cheap, they make a killing on the add ons. I wanted a couple sheets of metal down each side and the gables closed in and it was almost $1k more. Buying the metal and doing it myself was just an afternoon and a couple hundred dollars.
If you aren't going to do any work out of it or park a DD car under it I don't see much point. The buggy could easily be stored under a tarp to keep rain and sun off it, and a lean-to for the mower can easily be built in a day for $100. The only thing I can see it being useful for in your situation is to keep the hot rod from being hail damaged, as if you don't have sides on it you will still have to tarp the hot rod to keep dust out of it.
get 2 of these (I got mine for $700 a couple years ago plus another $300 for more roofing to close it in) Takes less than a day to put one up with a good screw gun.
Ignore Flea, and the rod holders, and look at the RV shed next to my shop.
Thats 35 feet long, 21 feet tall, 20 feet wide.
Its a massive sail in a strong wind, and has 1\8 wire rope cable tying it down on the "right" side, and it has welded sucker rod to the frame of my shop on the "left" side.
I could have had it fully sided if I wanted.
I will drop one about the same size behind the shop, and have a fully sealed room at the back.
(Yes.. the image is big, so the detail will show up.)
You can get them tall, wide, center support, thicker steel, enclosed on all sides with a garage style door, man door, windows, snow load rating, etc...
Call the manufactures / sellers and tell them what you want and ask what options they have.
The price really starts to add up but you can basically build them like a cheaper steel building, and most likely less permits / headache too depending on your area.
I ended up going with shipping/storage containers due to the cost associated with enclosing them, and having them rated for the amount of snow we get = $$$
If you can get by with their "cheaper" ready to go, default models and then use metal roofing to enclose the sides you probably can save some $$$
I'm putting one up shortly. I have some codes and what not I need to skirt so its really my best option right now. 18x26 with 8ft legs. Open walls since I want to side it to match my house and insulate it. Pouring a slab for 'RV' parking next week. 'Carport' will go on it right after that. West Coast metal buildings from Salem Or and its $1800 installed.
I'm thinking about one, as it could be done in stages as finances allow. One question is if it'd be possible to put in a slab a few years down the road. Anyone start with one on gravel and put concrete down later?
You can put down footers in sonar tubes and if you desire concrete later, just pour around the tubes without moving the frame.
> like 18'wide like 24' to 26' long. 2 garage doors and a walk in door.
I would go with a 17-18 foot inside width so you can park two wide trailers or DRW vehicles side by side. These are very popular in GA for RVs to comply with nazi HOA zoning laws if you can not park your RV in the back of the house.
Though wind is an enemy, many around here are destroyed by falling branches. So ... if the hoops are tied together I would not tie more then 3-4 together so if something falls on it you do not lose the whole carport. If you have no trees to worry about, I think anchored into the ground it would fine. Many people use them for spare freezers in the shade.
If it was me, I would run 230v out there first for outside welding before I laid the thin slab. Same with laying down some sewer pipe. Easier to spend $100 for stuff now then trying to add it later. Even if you never use the sewer pipe for a toilet you might end up using it for cleaning the slab later to let everything drain out downhill.
I would certainly put down large sonor tubes with 1" threaded rod, bent rebar, or something to tie down stuff or use as a winch or pulling point. If you lose the roof it would be nice not to lose the boat or enclosed trailer too.
If I had level ground in the back of my house I would have put one up already.
I had a customer with a tyvek one, think Northern Tools, and it lasted a long time. Long enough for me to get it and sell it when he moved and all the firewood under it We patched it with tyvek and white duct tape to fix minor rips/holes. He had it on his driveway pad.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Pirate 4x4
18.7M posts
366.4K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to custom off-road vehicle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about trail reports, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, fabrication, drivetrain, and more!